1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems in general and more specifically to selective isolation of a computer system server from a shared data storage subsystem.
2. Description of the Related Art
The capability of a computer system such as a computer server to enable a number of computer systems such as personal computer systems to retrieve data from a remote and common data storage subsystem over a computer system network has lead to a proliferation in the use of computer systems in the business environment.
One type of information handling system for providing access for a number of computer systems to a common data storage subsystem is a cluster system. A cluster system includes at least two servers or nodes operably coupled to a data storage subsystem. The data storage subsystem typically includes a plurality of data storage devices such as hard disk drives. In one type of cluster system, each server has the capability of controlling the storage and retrieval of data on each of the individual hard disk drives. With this type of cluster system, each storage unit is individually addressable by both servers.
The cluster system described above can be implemented using the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) bus architecture. SCSI is a computer system bus architecture standard specified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The SCSI standard specifies the parameters of a computer system bus including the number, type, and function of the SCSI signals used in a SCSI bus. A SCSI computer bus (SCSI bus) is commonly used to communicate data between a computer system and a peripheral device, such as a hard disk drive.